Ma Wenting was born in Lan Zhou, China, in 1983. She holds a BA in Chinese Painting from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (2005) and an MA in Oil Painting from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (2008). Ma Wenting uses the language and formal compositions of traditional painting to explain her anthropological interests. Ma paints people not as subjects, but as representatives of her wider social critique on contemporary life. Juxtapositions of old and new frequently occur in her panoramic assemblages of people, objects and landscapes. This theme took seed during her studies at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, where her life in the classroom, inspecting a centuries-old art technique, mingled with her life outside, where a new China promised – and continues to promise – futuristic evolution. Ma Wenting’s work has been included in group museum shows including Luo Zhongli Scholarship 10th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China (2015); Blow-UP—Chinese New Painting at Post Financial Crisis Era, Changjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Chongqing, China (2015); Within Sight – Chinese New Painting at post financial crisis era, Taylor Art Foundation, Paris, France (2015); Starting Small, Chengdu Museum of Fine Arts, Chengdu, China (2015); TA Era, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China (2015); Be Conscious of Yourself, Suzhou Art Museum, Suzhou, China (2013); Contemporary Art Invitational, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Gallery, Chongqing, China (2010); and Co-exhibition of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Japan, Tokyo Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2009). Ma Wenting currently lives and works in Chongqing, China.